A Perspective on Mohajir identity of Urdu-speaking citizens of Karachi and thereabout. Part 2

This post is based on my input in a discussion at www.defence.pk/forums/national-political-issues/ 
The original post in its unmodified state is at : 
http://www.defence.pk/forums/national-political-issues/228096-split-discussion-muhajir-identity-10.html#post3781912



Identity is a complicated matter in a multi-ethnic country. As it is things are not quite so easy for us in Pakistan.

Identity is based on feelings, not papers. If a set of people wishes to call themselves 'Mohajir' then we have to accept that without worrying about semantics. In my first post I noted that there is a perceived need for such an identity. You may wish to point out the reality, but perception trumps reality whether we like it or not. Let us consider the following labels (no offence to anyone):

a. Mohajir - A social term with religious connotations. Some consider it derogatory and inappropriate.
b. Urdu-speakers - We all are to one extent or another. And yet we have Bengalis, Madrasis, Keralites (?), etc...
c. Bhai log - Any bit of head scratching does not help here. What could it mean?
d. Non-Punjabi Immigrants - While quite accurate, it does define a group of people in a negative manner. Nothing positive here.
e. Karachiites - What do you call people of similar back-ground from Hyderabad and other places in Sindh?
f. Haq-Parast - What are others then? Very annoying.

Someone many point out what is wrong with the term 'Mohajir' and how it is misused by MQM and its supporters. But what alternative is there? 'Urdu-speaking' perhaps, but then there are problems with this too. If we ask the people concerned to give up their identity for the sake of Pakistan, then what can we realistically expect from them?

It is no easy matter; especially when a number of people identify themselves positively as Punjabi, Pashtun, Baloch, Sindhi. What do they do if not adopt a term coined for themselves that gives them a bit of a positive idea of themselves. Some people say that Mohajir is a derogatory term, but I do not agree with them. It is not used or intended as such by people who choose to call themselves Mohajir. Ask any psychologist how comforting and liberating is a sense of being a victim which this term evokes. Consider the religious meaning as well, which gives it a positive spin (Oh the irony of a secular party using and abusing this term). I see hardly any escape from it. Some people using this term would always feel themselves to be a victim even after 50 years. Some people would adopt this term in a high and glorified religious sense and feel entitled to a certain sense of moral superiority. And then, most importantly, some people would be desensitized entirely and use it as just a positive way of identifying themselves. When this happens, Altaf Hussain would be long dead, MQM would have splintered into a dozen factions, and Mohajirs would probably welcome other political players who might be better suited to represent them in a vast metropolis where they would hardly command a majority. Rest assured, we shall all still very much be Pakistanis.

In the long run a seemingly over-riding concern shall have been transitory. Issue of identity would no longer exert the same emotional push or pull.

My personal gripe with this whole thing is a feeling of having been let down by people I respected very much and held in high esteem. Now I smile at my simplicity when growing up as a kid and struggling with learning two languages (English by far being the harder), I idolized people who spoke Urdu as a mother language. People are people, no better no worse. They just have different preoccupations and POVs. If someone looks down at my being a Punjabi in today's Pakistan, I can guess why they claim superiority and be able to coolly tell them how they are no better. Big deal. Punjabis are cool in this way. It is not terribly important how they are seen by others, they would rather be 'Haal-Mast'. The issue of whether or not Urdu-speaking people feel superior, or what names they might call my ethnicity is a total non-starter and almost irrelevant as far as I am concerned. For Pashtuns it might be different, but I am not bothered one bit by it. MQM's shenanigans and 'Mohajir' support for them has robbed Urdu-speakers at large of any moral superiority they might wish to assume. Like I said: people are people, no better not worse, just different...


8 January 2013